Music: Young Prisms

In the “Genre” section of their Facebook page, Young Prisms shout their answer in caps-lock: “SHOEGAZE.” It’s nothing new for bands to skewer the concept of embracing or self-identifying with genres (comb through MySpace for a couple of hours and you’ll lose track of how many bands think that listing themselves as “Christian Rap” or “Ghettotech” is gut-bustingly funny), but in Young Prisms’ case, the line between truth and gag is terribly blurry.

“I never really thought about it,” bassist/vocalist Giovanni Betteo says, sounding a bit bewildered when asked a question about the seriousness of their eight-letter mission statement.

The 3-year-old San Francisco group submerses their melodies in barrels of reverb, creating something gorgeously indistinct. With good reason, the Prisms receive frequent comparisons to Shoegaze pioneers My Bloody Valentine in the press. Even though Betteo disagrees with the strength of that assertion, he remembers that after every show his band played in France, someone came up to them and mentioned their similarity to MBV. In the future, Young Prisms plan on digging deeper into both the experimental Shoegaze and more conventionally melodic angles.